About 250 participants discussed the role of electrical, electronic and mechatronic systems as key factors for adding value to innovative automobiles. The automotive world remains in flux and there are many different roads ahead. Electrically powered vehicles are one of the most promising, and today they represent an extremely significant field for research and development. The European automotive industry is driven primarily by developments in the USA and East Asia. Electrically powered vehicles which store energy in an onboard battery will be available in niche markets within the next two years. And vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells should hit the market by 2015. Despite these developments, many assume that even by 2030, petrol and diesel-powered automobiles will remain widely used – people will fill up their cars just as they do now.

The first of the symposium’s three days focused on current technologies and the future of automotive electronics. The main event was a guest lecture by Member of the German parliament Prof. e. h. Dr. Hermann Scheer, entitled “The next electronic revolution”. Day two of the symposium was dedicated to the complex role of electrical and electronic systems in the development of electrically powered automobiles, with an emphasis on high voltage components and architectures. In the evening, representatives from politics, business and science took part in a panel discussion chaired by Markus Schöttle, editor of the trade journal ATZ. The debate addressed electric automobile topics from a variety of angles. On the final day of the symposium, speakers approached the issue of electric automobiles from the perspective of vehicle requirements and infrastructure.  

Dr. Dirk Walliser of the firm MB-technology was responsible for the symposium agenda. Media partners were the trade journals ATZ, ATZelektronik and MTZ, all published by GWV Fachverlage, part of the Springer Automotive group.